1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope system.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-168309, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In the related art, there is a known controller that controls the drive speed of an electrically powered microscope stage in accordance with switching of the magnification of objective lenses (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 8-86965). With the controller for an electrically powered microscope stage disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 8-86965, the drive speed of the electrically powered stage is reduced when the objective lens is switched to one having a higher magnification, and the drive speed of the electrically powered stage is increased when the objective lens is switched to one having a lower magnification; by doing so, even though the electrically powered stage is driven when the objective lens is switched, the moving speed of an observation object on the electrically powered stage is kept constant, which prevents disruption of specimen observation.
In recent years, however, the major method of observation has shifted from one in which an eyepiece is used to one in which a digital camera is used. In the microscope observation employing a digital camera, the display magnification of an image is changed via software by image processing such as digital zooming, etc., and the viewing range of an image displayed on a display, etc. is changed by switching a digital camera connected to the microscope to another digital camera with a different viewing range. In addition, image processing such as partial capturing during live preview, etc. is also performed.
With such a microscope employing digital cameras, if a stage is driven when image processing, such as digital zooming, partial capturing, etc., is performed or when the digital cameras are switched, the moving speed of an observation image relative to the viewing range of an image displayed on a display is suddenly changed, and there is a problem in that observation of the specimen is disrupted.